'Manafort and his lies' at heart of case

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Paul Manafort lied to keep himself flush with cash and later to maintain his luxurious lifestyle when his income dropped off, prosecutors told jurors Wednesday in closing arguments at the former Trump campaign chairman's financial fraud trial. Jurors will begin deliberations Thursday.

In his defense, Manafort's attorneys told jurors to question the entirety of the prosecution's case as they sought to tarnish the credibility of Manafort's longtime protege -- and government witness -- Rick Gates.

The conflicting strategies played out over several hours of argument capping nearly three weeks of testimony in the first courtroom test for special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The verdict, now in the hands of 12 jurors, will provide a measure of the special counsel's ability to make charges stick.

And while the case doesn't involve allegations of Russian election interference or possible coordination by the Trump campaign, it has been watched closely by President Donald Trump as he seeks to publicly undermine Mueller's probe through a barrage of attacks on Twitter and through his lawyers.

In the closing arguments, prosecutor Greg Andres said the government's case boils down to "Mr. Manafort and his lies."

"When you follow the trail of Mr. Manafort's money, it is littered with lies," Andres said as he made his final argument the jury should find Manafort guilty of 18 felony counts.

Attorneys for Manafort, who is accused of tax evasion and bank fraud, spoke next, arguing against his guilt by saying he left the particulars of his finances to other people, including his former deputy Rick Gates.

After the closing arguments were finished, U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis lll told jurors they will begin deliberating this morning.

Neither Manafort nor Gates has been charged in connection with his Trump campaign work. But Mueller's legal team says it discovered Manafort hiding millions of dollars in income as a result of the ongoing investigation.

Defense attorney Richard Westling told jurors the fact Manafort employed a team of accountants, bookkeepers and tax preparers shows he wasn't trying to hide anything. The lawyer appeared to be trying to blunt the effect of testimony from some of the people who handled Manafort's finances, including his bookkeeper, who said he concealed offshore bank accounts and lied to them.

Westling said the evidence against Manafort has been cherry-picked by Mueller's team and doesn't show jurors the full picture.

"None of the banks involved reported Manafort's activities as suspicious," he said.

Westling questioned whether prosecutors had shown criminal intent by the former Trump campaign chairman, and pointed to documents and emails the defense lawyer said may well show numerical errors or sloppy bookkeeping but no overt fraud.

During the prosecution's arguments, jurors took notes as Manafort primarily directed his gaze at a computer screen where documents were shown. The screen showed emails written by Manafort containing some of the most damning evidence that he was aware of the fraud and not simply a victim of underlings who managed his financial affairs.

Andres highlighted one email in which he said Manafort sent an inflated statement of his income to bank officers reviewing a loan application. He highlighted another in which Manafort acknowledged his control of one of more than 30 holding companies in Cyprus prosecutors say he used to funnel more than $60 million he earned advising politicians in Ukraine.

Prosecutors say Manafort falsely declared some of that money to be loans rather than income to keep from paying taxes on it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a loan is not income, and income is not a loan. You do not need to be a tax expert to understand this," Andres said.

The government says Manafort hid at least $16 million in income from the IRS between 2010 and 2014. Then, after his money in Ukraine dried up, they allege, he defrauded banks by lying about his income on loan applications and concealing other financial information, such as mortgages.

Manafort chose not to testify or call any witnesses in his defense. His lawyers have tried to blame their client's financial mistakes on Gates, calling him a liar and philanderer.

Gates, who struck a plea deal with prosecutors, told jurors he helped conceal millions of dollars in foreign income and submitted fake mortgage and tax documents. He was also forced to admit embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort and conducting an extramarital affair.

Andres said the government isn't asking jurors to like Gates or take everything he said at "face value." He said the testimony of other witnesses and the hundreds of documents are enough to convict Manafort on tax evasion and bank fraud charges.

"Does the fact that Mr. Gates had an affair 10 years ago make Mr. Manafort any less guilty?" Andres asked, noting Manafort didn't choose a "Boy Scout" to aid a criminal scheme.

Referring to charts compiled by an IRS accounting specialist, Andres told jurors Manafort declared only some of his foreign income on his federal income tax returns and repeatedly failed to disclose millions of dollars streaming into the U.S. to pay for luxury items, services and loans. In 2012, Manafort's most successful year during his Ukrainian work, he reported $5.3 million. But he told the government nothing about another $9.2 million paying for loans and other items, prosecutors said.

The prosecutor said Manafort should have been well aware each time he signed tax and financial documents indicating he had no foreign accounts to declare. "Mr. Manafort was willful," Andres said.

In a brief rebuttal after defense arguments, Andres said the defense "wants to make this case about Rick Gates," but hasn't explained "the dozens of documents" Manafort's name is on.

Defense lawyer Kevin Downing told jurors the government was so desperate to make a case against Manafort it gave a sweetheart plea deal to Gates, and he would say whatever was necessary so it would not recommend he serve jail time.

"Mr. Gates, how he was able to get the deal he got, I have no idea," Downing said.

Leaving the courthouse, Downing said he felt "very good" about Manafort's chances of being acquitted.

"Mr. Manafort was very happy with how things went today," Downing said.